Lesson 44

Vietnam: Peace With Honor

Lesson Objectives

• Understand the goals, provisions and consequences of President Nixon's Vietnamization policy.

• Describe the efforts of President Nixon to change global strategic alignments and the implications of his initiatives.

• Describe and analyze changes in the military situation in Vietnam from 1969 to 1973.

• Describe and assess the impact of US political developments from 1969 through 1975.

Richard M. Nixon

January 20, 1969

Vietnamization

During 1968 presidential campaign, Nixon pledged to have a secret plan for ending the Vietnam War

Initiated a plan to increase the size and effectiveness of South Vietnamese forces while drawing down size of US military role in that country.

Transfer the war to the South Vietnamese

Vietnamization

President Nixon - November 3, 1969 Major speech on Vietnamization policy

Speech Text:( 31:58 )

Vietnam War Casualties

Troop Levels

Troop Levels

Cambodian Incursion29 April - 22 July 1970

Cambodian Incursion29 April - 22 July 1970

Results:Casualties: US: 338 KIA ARVN: 809 KIA

NVA: 12,000+ KIA (estimated)

Huge stocks of NVA weapons, ammo, food captured

US Domestic:

Widespread protest in US, particularly on college campuses

Congress took first action to limit US involvement in SEA

• Cooper-Church Amendment

Congress and the WarUse of Budget to Restrict Operations in SEA

Cooper-Church Amendment (1970)

• Sponsored by Sen. John Cooper (R-KY) & Sen. Frank Church (S-ID)

• Reaction to US-led invasion of Cambodia (April 1970)

• Prohibited use of US troops in Cambodia after June 30, 1970

• Approved by Senate 58-37 on June 30, 1970, after troops US withdrew

• House approved watered-down version December 1970

Significance:

First time Congress had restricted the deployment of US troops in wartime

US Strategy in Vietnam

JCS Proposal 1965

• Build a Korean-war style defensive line across DMZ

• Conduct operations into Laos to permanently cut supply lines (Ho Chi Minh Trail)

• Proposed by Westmoreland in 1967, again in 1968

• Never approved or rejected by LBJ, SecDef

Summers

Lam Son 719

Before one draws any comparisons between the Laos operations and airmobile operations conducted by the U. S. Army, it must be realized that LAMSON 719 was a very special operation in which strict rules governed U. S. military operations across the Laotian border. While the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces could operate freely on the ground and in the air within Laos, U. S. Forces were restricted to air operations under specific rules of engagement and were prohibited from fighting on the ground.

Lieutenant General John J. Tolson, USAAirmobility 1961-1971, p. 236Vietnam Studies series, CMH Pub 90-4Washington: Department of the Army, 1989

8 February - 25 March 1971

Attempt to cut Ho Chi Minh Trail

Lam Son 719

Concept of Operations

8 February - 25 March 1971

Lam Son 7198 February - 25 March 1971

Results:Casualties: US: 215 KIA ARVN: 1,500-3,500 KIA *

NVA: 2,000 KIA (estimated)

Some NVA weapons, ammo, food captured

* ARVN reports vary

US provided logistic support to border, air support in Laos

ARVN did not perform well in face of stiff NVA resistance

• Poor planning and execution by ARVN leadership

Generally regarded as indicating a failure of Vietnamization

Easter (Spring) OffensiveMarch 30 - October 22, 1972

Easter (Spring) OffensiveMarch 30 - October 22, 1972

Easter (Spring) OffensiveMarch 30 - October 22, 1972

ARVN performed reasonably well with US air support

DRV gained valuable space inside RVN for future offensives

Major conventional invasion on three fronts:

• Across DMZ • Central Highlands

• West of Saigon

• Also gained bargaining chip in negotiations

Nixon began planning for Linebacker II

Nixon initiated Operation Linebacker• Bombing of North Vietnamese logistics targets

• Sustained bombing of North Vietnamese strategic targets

• Delay in starting due to need to return airpower to SEA

(May 9 - October 23, 1972)

Paris Peace AccordsJanuary 23, 1973

Henry Kissinger (left) and Le Duc Tho initial agreement

Congress and the WarUse of Budget to Restrict Operations in SEA

Case-Church Amendment (1973)

• After Paris Peace Accords (Jan 1973), Nixon hinted at US intervention if North Vietnam attacked South

• Introduced by Senators Clifford Case (R‐NJ) & Frank Church (D‐ID)

• Prohibited U.S. military activity in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia after August 15, 1973 without Congressional approval.

• Passed by Senate 64-26, House 278-124 (June 1973)

Significance:

Essentially ended US military activity in Southeast Asia

Nixon ResignsAugust 9, 1974

President Gerald Ford

Linebacker II

Final Offensive

DRV planned final offensive for 1976

Probing Attacks

Final Offensive

DRV planned final offensive for 1976

Encouraged, DVR ordered additional probes in 1975

The Final Days - 1975

Final Offensive

DRV planned final offensive for 1976

Encouraged, DVR ordered additional probes in 1975

DRV politburo again astonished by speed of success

• Ordered push to Pleiku and on to coast

RVN President Thieu ordered strategic retreat• Gave up northern provinces to protect Saigon and south

ARVN retreat turned into a rout

The Final Days - 1975

Hué FellMarch 25

Da Nang FellMarch 30

II Corps FellApril 2

Pleiku AbandonedMarch 16

Last Flight From Danang

CBS Evening News – March 1975( 5:49 )

March 29, 1975

Fall of Saigon

( 43:40 – 58:15 )

Battlefield Vietnam – Part 12

US Evacuation of Saigon

Early plans had identified:• 8,000 US and third country citizens for evacuation

• Number of potential South Vietnamese evacuees never determined

• • Estimate: 17,000 US employee + 6 family members = > ~120,000 evacuees

Late March 1975: Evacuations by commercial aircraft began

• Last fixed-wing transport (C-130) left Tan San Nhut airport 29 April

• • Later estimates went as high as 200,000!

Contingency plans always existed for evacuation of US citizens• Also included “At risk” Vietnamese citizens

• • “At Risk” = US employees and agents

Fall of Saigon

Newsreel Footage

( 6:04 )

Operation Frequent WindApril 29-30, 1975

Final helicopter evacuation of US citizens and others

Pickup points at Tan San Nhut airport and US Embassy

• Air America (CIA-run airline) also committed 24 helicopters

US Marine helicopters operated from off-shore ships • USAF helicopters from Thailand shuttled to ships

Operation Frequent WindApril 29-30, 1975

Helicopter operations from Saigon progressed smoothly

Operation Frequent WindApril 29-30, 1975

April 30, 1975 - 7:53 AM

Last US Marine helicopter lifted off the roof of the US Embassy

Evacuation of Saigon

Iconic image: “Evacuation from the U.S. Embassy roof”

U.S. Embassy - Saigon

1972

Evacuation of Saigon

Pittman Apartment building used by CIA staff

(top of elevator shaft - not a heliport)Story

Operation Frequent WindApril 29-30, 1975

Meanwhile, as South Vietnam forces crumbled …

…scores of VNAF officers commandeered aircraft and headed to Thailand or the US fleet offshore.

Created desk space problem on aircraft carrier USS Midway

Scenes Ditching

Operation Frequent Wind

VNAF Major Buang, wife, five children arrive on USS Midway

Operation Frequent Wind

USS Midway after stop in Thailand to retrieve fixed wing aircraft

Fall of Saigon

( Full video – 56:59 )

Battlefield Vietnam – Part 12

Major Issues

What was the impact of the Cambodian Incursion on the US domestic situation?

What was Vietnamization?

What was Lam Son 719?

• How did Lam Son 719 reflect on the Vietnamization effort?

• Specifically, how did Congress react to the Cambodian incursion?

What were the results of the Easter (Spring) Offensive of 1972?

What action did the US take as a result of the Easter (Spring) Offensive of 1972?

What was Linebacker II and what was its objective?

Lesson 45

Vietnam War in Retrospect

Next:

Lesson Objectives

• Relate and analyze the impact on the Vietnam War of U.S. political events from the signing of the Paris Accord (1973) to the fall of Saigon (1975)

• Relate and analyze the miltary events in Vietnam from 1973 to 1975 that led to the collapse of South Vietnam.

End